Apple has issued a rare recall notice on one of its products today: the Beats Pill XL portable Bluetooth speaker sold in Apple Stores and various other retailers. The voluntary recall cites a situation in which the battery can overheat and become a fire hazard. Apple purchased Beats Electronics and Beats Music for some $3 billion in 2014. The current Beats Pill XL hardware has remained the same since Apple purchased the speaker company. Press release below:
To facilitate the voluntary recall, Apple has created a recall program for Beats Pill XL customers to return the Bluetooth speaker to Apple and receive a $325 Apple Store credit or payment. Apple has obviously pulled its supply of $299 Beats Pill XL speakers from its online store with inventory saying unavailable. The smaller $199 and under Beats Pill 2.0 Bluetooth speaker is not included in the recall.
The Beats Pill XL recall isn’t the first bit of trouble that Apple has ran into following its multibillion acquisition last year. Shortly after announcing plans to buy Beats Electronics, Bose filed a lawsuit against the company claiming patent infringement on noise canceling technology. For a short period, Bose headphones and speakers were removed from Apple Stores, although the two companies later settled and saw Bose products return to Apple’s retail channels.
According to the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission, about 220,000 Beats Pill XL speakers were sold in the US while about 11,000 units were sold in Canada. The CPSC notes that the recall follows “eight reports of incidents of the speakers overheating, including one with a burn to a consumer’s finger and one with damage to a consumer’s desk.”
Voluntary Recall of All Beats Pill XL Speakers
CUPERTINO, California—June 3, 2015—Apple® today announced a voluntary recall of Beats Pill® XL speakers, including a refund for customers. Apple has determined that, in rare cases, the battery in the Beats Pill XL may overheat and pose a fire safety risk. The recall does not affect any other Beats or Apple products.
Because customer safety is the company’s top priority, Apple is asking customers to stop using their Beats Pill XL speakers. Customers who purchased a Beats Pill XL speaker should visit www.apple.com/support/beats-pillxl-recall for details about how to return their product to Apple, and how to receive an Apple Store® credit or electronic payment of $325.
The Beats Pill XL can be identified by the Beats “b” logo on the speaker grille and the words “beats pill XL” on the handle. The product is sold in five colors: black, metallic sky, pink, titanium and white.
The Beats Pill XL was introduced by Beats by Dre in November 2013. Apple acquired Beats in 2014.
Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad.
